... Area Residents Gain Access to High Quality Care as State Approves ...NEW YORK Aug. 20 -- Patients who suffer from... The liver transplantation program at Montefiore Medical Center fills ... The Bronx has one of the highest rates of liver disease in the countr...

Area Residents Gain Access to High Quality Care as State Approves Only
Program in The Bronx

NEW YORK, Aug. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Patients who suffer from
severe liver disease and need a liver transplant will no longer have to
seek that highly specialized surgery and critically important follow-up
care outside the borough of the Bronx. Area patients and their families now
have access to this high-quality care locally, without having to travel
long distances, as a result of the New York State Department of Health's
approval of the first and only liver transplant program in the Bronx, at
Montefiore Medical Center (http://www.montefiore.org).

"The liver transplantation program at Montefiore Medical Center fills a
significant, unmet medical need for people who live in the Bronx and suffer
from end-stage liver disease," said Steven M. Safyer, M.D., president and
CEO of Montefiore.

"The Bronx has one of the highest rates of liver disease in the country
and the highest rate of liver disease in New York State," said Dr. Safyer.
"Until now, patients in the Bronx and surrounding areas who had liver
disease had to travel outside of the borough to receive care, which was an
additional burden on them and their families.

"Our liver transplant program now allows these patients to receive be
cared for locally closer to home, by a team of professionals, at a center
with an incredible amount of experience and expertise in all aspects of
liver care," said Dr. Safyer.

The liver transplant program is part of the Montefiore-Einstein Liver
Center and is supported by a research component from Albert Einstein
College of Medicine's National Institutes of Health-funded Liver Center.

"We have a world class team of surgeons and liver specialists with a
wide range of experience in treating and researching severe liver disease,"
said Milan Kinkhabwala, M.D., chief of transplantation and director of
abdominal organ transplantation at Montefiore. "More than 120 Bronx
patients were waiting for liver transplants in 2007, and approximately 50
local residents had no choice but to seek a liver transplant outside the
borough last year," said Dr. Kinkhabwala.

While there are more than 2,300 people statewide currently waiting for
a liver transplant, statistics for New York State show that risk factors
for liver disease are significantly higher for residents of the Bronx when
compared to other areas of the state.

Doctors at Montefiore believe there is actually 10 times the recorded
number of people in the Bronx with serious liver problems. Montefiore's
unique capabilities as an academic medical center help address these
problems through community-based outreach, patient and physician education
and the patient care provided by a nationally recognized team of liver
specialists. Thousands of patients suffering from serious liver diseases
including Hepatitis C, cirrhosis and cancer are treated annually at
Montefiore.

"We have found there is a greater rate of alcohol use, intravenous drug
use and confounding variables like malnutrition and diminished access to
health care here in the Bronx," said Paul Gaglio, M.D., a nationally known
liver expert and medical director of Montefiore's Liver Transplant Program.
"The number of hospitalizations for liver-related diagnoses in Bronx-area
hospitals has increased substantially, magnifying the importance of having
an easily accessible local liver transplant center in the Bronx," said Dr
Gaglio.

In addition to liver transplantation, Montefiore has programs in adult
and pediatric heart transplantation, adult and pediatric kidney
transplantation and bone marrow transplantation.

Montefiore Medical Center encompasses 124 years of outstanding patient
care, innovative medical "firsts," pioneering clinical research, dedicated
community service and ground-breaking social activism. A full-service,
integrated delivery system caring for patients in the New York metropolitan
region and beyond, Montefiore is a 1,491-bed medical center that includes:
four hospitals -- the Henry and Lucy Moses Division, the Jack D. Weiler
Division, the North Division and The Children's Hospital at Montefiore; a
large home healthcare agency; the largest school health program in the
U.S.; a 21-site medical group practice integrated throughout the Bronx and
Westchester; and, a care management organization providing services to
179,000 health plan members.

In 2008, The Children's Hospital at Montefiore
(http://www.montekids.org) ranks as one of "America's Best Children's
Hospitals" in US News & World Report's prestigious annual listing.
Montefiore is ranked by the Leapfrog Group among the top one percent of all
U.S. hospitals based on its strategic investments in sophisticated and
integrated healthcare technology.

Montefiore is committed to meeting the healthcare needs of the future
through medical education and manages one of the largest residency programs
in the country. Montefiore is The University Hospital and Academic Medical
Center for Albert Einstein College of Medicine and has an affiliation with
New York Medical College for residency programs at the North Division.

Distinguished centers of excellence at Montefiore include cardiology
and cardiac surgery, cancer care, tissue and organ transplantation,
children's health, women's health, surgery and the surgical subspecialties.
Montefiore is a national leader in the research and treatment of diabetes,
headaches, obesity, cough and sleep disorders, geriatrics and geriatric
psychiatry, neurology and neurosurgery, adolescent and family medicine,
HIV/AIDS and social and environmental medicine, among many other
specialties. For more information, please visit http://www.montefiore.org or
http://www.montekids.org.

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